Enders' game: Weber High graduate has busy ski season

Special To The Standard

PLEASANT VIEW -- Destrey Enders just capped a successful ski racing season, graduated from Weber High School and looks to the future with high expectations.

The busy Pleasant View teenager raced in 51 events during the past winter season in the western region. Due to travel to Idaho, California and Colorado nearly every weekend and some race schedules that kept her away from home for as many as eight days, Enders earned high honors at Weber despite actually attending just 11 days of classes in the winter term.

Enders won the Eric Hays slalom at Park City in December, beating a former U.S. ski team member. She was the third junior finisher at the Steamboat Springs Holiday Classic slalom race, then finished fifth in the Western Region at the Snow King Western FIS Open races in Wyoming.

The Western Region Tech series slaloms at Snowbird had an international field of college races and current U.S. ski team members; Enders finished ninth and 17th in the two days of racing and was the third U.S. women competitor on both days, qualifying her for U.S. nationals in the spring.

Enders is currently ranked fifth overall in the intermountain division in the slalom event for the J1 age group (ages 17-19).

Enders raced in all four skiing disciplines (slalom, giant slalom, super G, and downhill) at the NorAm series at Vail and Aspen, Colo. The NorAm seires, one level down from the World Cup, is made up of an international field of top racers from throughout the U.S., Canada and includes a few Europeans.

Enders scored NorAm points in the super G and downhill at Aspen with top 20 finishes, and is now ranked third overall in the Intermountain Division for the J1 women in the downhill event.

Enders also qualified for Western Regional Championships with a couple of top 10 finishes at a super G in Brundage, Idaho, and a sixth place in the Laura Flood Memorial GS at Sun Valley, Idaho. At the regional championships, she posted one podium finish of third in the super G as well as top 10 finishes in the slalom and GS.

The U.S. nationals boasted a star-studded field of U.S. Ski Team athletes such as Lindsay Vonn, Julia Mancuso, Stacy Cook and Mickaela Shiffrin competing, as well as top women from the nation, and international college level skiers. Starting well in the back of the field with bibs of 60 and 70s, Enders managed to put in solid performances of 28th in the slalom and 32nd in the GS. Right after nationals and couple days of school, Enders capped the season by winning Snowbird's Last Chance slalom race and won by a full 5 seconds. She was named Snowbird Ski Team alpine performer of the year.

Enders is planning to attend Colby College in Maine this fall and will race on their Division I ski team.